Discoveries
by just drifting
Summary: Martha meets up with an old friend and old memories are re-awakened. The Doctor and Martha discover that their friend choices are actually very alike
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This may not be an original idea but I liked it so I am going to go with it anyway. Not very good. I personally don't like it, cant really get the feeling if you know what I mean. Anyway hope you think otherwise and if not then that's too bad.

They stepped out of the TARDIS onto a busy London street. Martha looked around her, it was good to be back home she thought to herself.

"Martha?" someone called through the crowd

Martha turned around to see a red-headed woman running towards her

"Claire" Martha was surprised to see her old friend here

"God Martha, it's been so long. Where you been?" Claire came to stand opposite her

"Travelling" Martha laughed at her bland response

"Do you want to get a coffee or something?"

"Sure" Martha said, she turned to the Doctor "You'll be ok by yourself for awhile won't you"

The Doctor looked at her sulkily "Fine you go and have fun and leave me all by myself"

"Ok" Martha laughed and added "Don't get into trouble ok"

The Doctor glared at her as she walked off

* * *

"So what have been up to Claire" Martha was sitting opposite her friend in a small café.

"Nothing much, same job, same guy, same place" Claire was looking dejectedly into her coffee

"I doesn't matter Claire" Martha tried to cheer her friend up

Claire smiled "But you Martha, your life had changed a lot since I last saw you"

Martha smiled back at Claire "Well… I'd almost become a doctor. But then I met this man and he took me, travelling"

"Can you believe its been three years since we've seen each other" Martha was anxious to change the subject.

"Yeah, remember years ago with Jacob and Felicity, George and Catherine and Rose and Mickey"

"Sorry Claire it was so long ago, I don't remember anyone" Martha racked her brains but no memories came to her

"Not even Rose, Martha she was our best friend for years"

"Oh yeah, I remember Rose, but it was so long ago. We are older than her and I guess when she dropped out and I continued with my studies, we just fell apart"

"I still kept in touch with her"

"Well how is she"

Claire looked down into her cup, a tear fell down her face

"Claire what's wrong!"

"Martha" Claire spoke slowly her voice low and husky "Rose, Mickey and her mum were all killed when those robots came to earth, they were on the list of the dead"

"No!"

"And the last conversation we had we were fighting. I just wish I could go back and say sorry, one last time"

Martha grabbed her friends hand and pulled her out of the shop

"I think I might have found you a solution" she smiled

* * *

Martha found the Doctor where she had left him.

"Doctor we have a quick trip to make" she glanced at him and then opened the door of the TARDIS for Claire.

Claire looked sceptically at the small box but Martha smiled encouragingly at her so she stepped inside.

"What the hell, it's bigger on the inside" The Doctor laughed as he stepped inside behind Martha

"It's our space ship" Martha told her "But it also travels in time"

"No?" Claire stared at Martha open mouthed

"Lets try it, when was the last time you spoke to Rose?"

"13th of August 2006" Claire told Martha

"Alright Doctor lets go" Martha ran to help him with the controls

"Hold on" the Doctor yelled to Claire over the noise of the TARDIS

Just in time Claire grabbed the railing for their was a huge bump as the TARDIS landed

Martha took Claire's hand and they stepped outside "Ok where does she live?"

"Same place as always, Council Estate"

"Off we go then" The Doctor watched as Martha and Claire ran towards a familiar building. Surely it couldn't be? No, there were tons of people living in that building. All the same he followed them

* * *

Claire stopped outside the door and gave a loud knock. The Doctor looked up and fell to the ground as a familiar face opened the door.

He caught Jackie's words as she answered their question

"She's not here im afraid, off travelling. Don't know when she'll be back"

Claire and Martha's faces fell as Jackie closed the door

Martha turned in surprise as she saw the Doctor lying on the ground. She ran to him "Doctor what's wrong?"

"You, Jackie, Rose?" the Doctor stammered

"What's wrong Doctor!" Martha was scared

"You and Rose!" The Doctor sat up

"How do you know Rose" Martha came to sit beside the Doctor

"My dear Martha how unobservant you are" the Doctor smiled "The companion you weren't replacing, Rose"

"No!" Martha looked alarmed as he nodded his head

Claire came to sit beside them "Rose told me about a man called the Doctor, she was travelling with him when I last spoke to her. I guess I didn't make the connection"

"Do you want to see Rose" the Doctor looked at them. They both nodded

"Then I'll take you to a time when she's home" The Doctor stood up and held out his hand to Martha

"Off to cross the paths of time" Martha laughed as she took his hand

* * *

The Doctor landed the TARDIS and they stepped out.

"Be quick" he said "You have around half and hour until the other me turns up"

"What about you" Martha asked

"I'll be waiting here as always" the Doctor sounded surprised

"Aren't you coming?" Martha questioned

"And create a hole in the universe, no thankyou"

"Do you want me to give her anything?"

The Doctor looked at his feet. He grabbed a piece of paper and quickly wrote a note, folded it and sealed it in an envelope.

"Tell her not to open it until after Bad Wolf Bay, she wont know what you're talking about but just tell her she will one day"

Martha smiled bravely at the Doctor and then stepped out of the TARDIS with Claire

They walked up and knocked on the door. Rose greeted them. 

"Martha, Claire long time no see" she smiled warmly at them

Martha drew her into a tight hug and Claire joined in

Rose laughed and invited them inside, closing the door behind her.

* * *

The hour was almost up so Martha decided it was time to say their good-byes. She stood up to leave

"Where are you going" Rose asked "You could stay and meet a friend of mine, he said he'd be here soon"

Martha laughed "No I think we'd better go. She hugged Rose tightly and kissed her forehead. "I love you" she said. Rose hugged her back and smiled "Me too"

Martha waited as Claire said her goodbyes before she handed Rose the envelope and a tear ran down her cheek

"What's wrong" Rose asked her suddenly alarmed

"Nothing, only that I wont ever see you again"

'Of course you will, we'll keep in touch" Rose was definite

Martha only smiled and sadly shook her head

"Anyway" she said changing the subject "Keep this, it's a letter from a friend who didn't get to say what he needed to before it was too late"

Rose looked perplexed

"He said don't open it until after Bad Wolf Bay"

"What does that mean" Rose looked at Claire for help, who just shrugged

"You wont understand it now but you will, you know the problems with time travelling Rose"

Martha smiled at her and then quickly left before what she had just said dawned on Rose

Claire smiled and then followed Martha. She too had tears running down her face

* * *

The Doctor was surprised to see the wet faces before him

"What's wrong" he asked

"She dies" Martha cried, then she corrected herslef "She's dead"

"No" the Doctor almost laughed but he wasn't able to

"But Claire said…" Martha looked at Claire

The Doctor sat down heavily he was surprised to see a tear run down his face. Instantly Martha was beside him holding his hand

"She's trapped in a parallel universe" he choked

Martha squeezed his hand tighter

"I can never see her again"

Martha threw her arms around him "I'm so sorry" she murmured

"Still" he tried to smile "I have you"

She nodded and he squeezed her hand tight

"Off we go then, never stoping, just you and me eh" he looked intently at her and she smiled at him as he set the co-ordinates


	2. Epilogue

**Epilogue:**

Rose sat in her room. She had just said her last goodbye to the man she loved more than anything else in the world. She now understood all Martha had said to her in their last meeting. A tear ran down her face when she remembered Martha, she was sad that she woud never see her friend again. She had thought that she would be jealous, the Doctor moving on, but she was happy that Martha was keeping the Doctor sane.

Rose remembered the letter Martha had given her and went to her drawer. She opened the compartment hidden at the back and took it out. She sat heavily on her bed and broke the seal. She drew out the letter to see hasty scribble taking up only a small amount of the page

_My Dearest Rose, _

_It has been longer for me than it has been for you. months in fact, if you are doing what Martha told you to do then it was only a while ago since we last spoke but if you are going against Martha and my wishes and reading it when you are not meant to then put it straight away now and go and keep me company, i need all the time with you i can get._

_I've missed you terribly, i thought i wouldnt be able to go on without you, thats how much you meen to me. You may feel upset and angry because you think that i have replaced you, but my dear that isnt true in the slightest. Martha is a great friend and i am truely grateful to her, but she could never replace you and i could never care for anyone as much as i care for you. _

_I want you to take the words im about to put onto paper to heart but i dont want them to ruin your life. Although i got this message to you we still will never see each other again and i want you to live your life to the full. have the kind of life that i could never offer you, and i know you'll be sitting there saying that that isnt what you want but im sorry but its all you can have. i truly hope that you have a wonderful life my Rose. _

_I never got to finish and for that i am deeply sorry because i know they wont mean much me not saying them in person but i still hope they mean something because it really really do...Rose Tyler, I Love You._

Tears streamed down Rose's face and fell on the paper. She quickly turned her head so that the letter wasnt ruined, she knew that she would take it out almost everyday. Maybe she should frame it? She laughed despite herself. Rose was grateful to Martha for giving her this, she now thought that her life had meaning and she knew that the feeling she had for the Doctor were not one sided. How could the Doctor say those words probably wouldnt mean much. They were now her most favourite words in the universe. Rose sighed as she let herself cry herself to sleep witht the Doctor letter tucked tightly in her arms. "I Love You" she whispered to the air


End file.
